https://staging2.theplaylist.net/listen-patton-oswalts-great-story-about-a-live-read-of-jerry-lewis-the-day-the-clown-cried-gone-wrong-20141217/ Mon, 23 May 2016 04:41:44 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 https://staging2.theplaylist.net/listen-patton-oswalts-great-story-about-a-live-read-of-jerry-lewis-the-day-the-clown-cried-gone-wrong-20141217/#comment-139310 Mon, 23 May 2016 04:41:44 +0000 http://www.indiewire.com/2014/more/uncategorized/listen-patton-oswalts-great-story-about-a-live-read-of-jerry-lewis-the-day-the-clown-cried-gone-wrong-269088/#comment-139310 I was privileged to be at one of those readings. I worked with Patton as a fellow staff writer on MAD TV when he set it up. The group sat on the stage and read excerpts from selected scenes, as I recall. The sputters of shocked amusement emitted by the audience were a large part of the entertainment. Virtually every word of this script made you want to choke. And yet it was beautiful, in a wonderful, horrible way. Jerry had a vision, and his lack of internal filter, his hubris, some underdevelopment of shame cells in his brain, whatever–something–failed to tell him to wad this thing up and set fire to it as soon as he wrote it. Ya gotta love that! Supposedly the only print extant is locked in a vault (probably at Jerry\’s estate) and only Harry Shearer claims to have actually watched the entire film. We can only envy him.Thanks, Patton!

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